A bit of local history and breaking news.....

 Price: you got eyes on Soap?
Soap: Yeah Boss, its a Norwegian Blue, lovely plumage....

Off duty, Soap is a bit of a twitcher but, meantime inside the headshed shipping container, FOB Crimea....

Soap: OK, blokes listen up. The Boss wants you all to have some background on the history and culture of our TOE. So, question one - where are we?

Voice: in a bloody hot shipping container 

Soap: Yeah, right, Baz, very literal answer, now shuttit. We are at the SE tip of the Epirou Peninsula in the Joint Republic of Hav-Trebizon aka JRHT. Hav was formerly the Serene Littoral Republic Of Hav, a bit of a Venice wannabe, except it got taken over big time by the Ottomans once they banjoed Constaninople. The Exarchate of Trebizon put up a....Ron?

Ron : Soap, just what the heck is an Exarchate? 

Baz : Easy, its a used to be archate. 

Soap : Good try Baz but nul pointes. Trebizon put up a bit more of a fight until the third Duke in a row  was flayed alive by the Sultan, at which point they all got the message. Both countries got Independance in 1903 and again in 1921 and 1948. They then fought a brief war in 1975 after which the UN told them to be good boys and play nicely.

Hav was more NATO oriented while Trebizon was dominated by the USCS - the Union of Slavikovan Communist States. That explains why the Hav lads have NATO or US kit and the Trebs have AKs and look vaguely WARPACT. 

As you know things fell apart for the comrades and Skavikova isn't what it used to be. That's bad news because previously they were predictable and now they are as predictable as a rabid dog on acid. Which is where we come in. There are lots of local tensions here but by and large the Havs and Trebs aren't shooting each other - though it gets a bit rough on match days. The Havs are urban, very businesslike and love to haggle. The Trebs are more rural and think they are getting ripped off - which is usually the case. They call each other polis and agris which is Greek for town and mountain. .....any comments? Piotr,  no need to put your hand up.....

Baz - it's round the back of the cookhouse mate 

Piotr: shut. it.

All : laughter 

Piotr: it is best not to mention goats. We know that the Continental Hotel is owned by a former KGB colonel who is still connected to Moscow. 

Joern: the security  manager of the Royale Casino is ex Stasi and most of the casino girls used to be "sparrows"....

Ron: HEY! Those babes are HOT!

Leif: it's a coincidence Ron; do not worry yourself.  

Soap: thank lads, so next....

Door opens

Price: OP ON! Ops room NOW! The Italians have lost a Special Envoy. OP ON! Soap ?

All : rumble of boots....

Soap : who snatched him Boss?

Price : National Honour, from a cafe in Norovogrod.

Soap : NH? They're nutters! They want a return to the 1842 borders and war with Turkey! Why have they grabbed this bloke? Is he a spook?

Price: No, he's a full civ. Italy is a swing player on the big EU vote this week. Italy vote against and Bellini is sent home in very small pieces. Like the advert says, simple.

Soap: Simples, Boss. It's simples "squeak"?

Price: Get an action on drafted NOW! Chinese parliament in 15. Wheels up in 60..... Move it! Bloody meerkats.  

Next up: The Bellini Op, briefing and AAR ETA this weekend.... Cheers Maff

Welcome to ISOF

Capt Price: right lads. This is your acclimatisation briefing on joining ISOF. First things first, you all got a brew? Right. On with the show. Soap. SOAP! Get off that bloody X-Box and get in HERE!

Soap: Sorry Boss. I was at this really ally bit, beaten my high score and..........you need to open PowerPoint first Boss.....oh, didn't you save it? If you press alt, ctrl and delete. Oh....

 Price: Fine. I'll do it from memory.Welcome to ISOF - International Support and Observation Force, based here at FOB CRIMEA in sunny Hav. Formed this year when the mentoring mandate from the UN expired but it was quite clear that internal Slavikovan tensions remained a threat to regional security and that Hav and it's neighbours need assistance. Our role is to train and support the Hav intelligence community, their military and Special Forces, to observe Slavikovan military activities and to act to enable local elements.Is that clear?

 All: muttering and slurps of tea and coffee

 Price: So that's a yes then. Local players. Slavikovan spetsnatz, mafia funded ultra nationalists, nationalists, moderate militarists, extremist modernists, old school communists and kzarist monarchist revanchists. Our lads are the Hav military, their Narco Interventura, Grenzjager special forces, police and somewhere out there is Hav organised crime who are playing their own bloody game.

 Our assets. Headshed is me and Soap. Ops room is Box from 6, QMS Bob and the Scaleys. The Green Slime lives in the basement and is let out if he's been a good boy.

 Red Team is Gaz, Baz, Chaz and Daz. You lot are Blue team. Joern, Ron, Piotr and Leif are Zulu team.

 You've seen the helos and vehicles on the strip and we have access to some really warry air kit, JTAC etc as long as its not needed elsewhere. Ron, keep in touch with your old firm, in case.

 One last thing. We DO NOT operate ATR - Across The River. Never. That's official so it must be true. Right off you go and here, pass 'em around - maps of ATR.

 All: scuffle of chairs, rumble of boots, stampede to exits

 Price: Bloody IT. Bloody Soap. Bloody Xbox.

 Further reports to follow as soon as Capt P has overcome his IT difficulties and dragged Soap away from his Xbox

 Cheers Maff

Five minutes of war

.........Breaking News........Slavikovan aggression in the Epirou........Hav troops in firefight......ISOF intervenes......

This was the scene this evening as elements of the Slavikovan 93rd Motorised Regiment and an unidentfied militia force pushed across the border and moved towards the village of Baklava.

The militia at 9, the 93rd at 6; the Hav troopers  have bailed out of their hummer - the SL and his team face the militia while the rest try to get to the rest of the hamlet. The SL is already on his radio calling for support.....

".....radici! Splodoci! Slavikovakici!"

The sinister militia stalk across the beet fields, 

"Soon, Latka, these goats will be ours..."

The Hav fire team stops the motor rifles.

Savage AK fire pushes the recon troopers back. 

Taking cover by a cottage they await the next onslaught

The Militia however get caught crossing the field and go to ground but the pressure is on the Hav troopers as the 93rd are within metres of breaking through. Then, over the radio....."move up. Daz, Chaz take left - Baz, on me GO GO GO!"

A hail of accurate fire slots into the militia as men

with big 'taches pepper pot across the beet field....

This was an impromptu affair very much influenced by the film and over pretty quickly, we've been nattering about using "SAGGERS"- ie "SWATTERS" but without the aliens. The 93rd and the Hav troops were Q4 with the militia Q5. The SF who appeared at the end were Q3 . I'd say it worked.

The figures are mainly Liberation minis but the Hav troops are Hotspur Grenada USMC. Hav is yet to upgrade to M4 and Bradley.... Apparently Capt Price is briefing some new lads fresh in from selection, so a potted background to the current state of play in Hav and Slavikova is imminent.

Cheers
Maff

Council Flats

I've had this low relief block of flats specially commissioned in OO scale for Winter of '79. I thought it would make a nice background piece to add vertical depth to my tabletop urban environment.

A second block of flats in the same style will be around 40mm deep and have three removable windows to reveal sniper perches. Two of these, some garages, a couple of skips and a low rise shopping precinct will make a tidy little arena within a mid-rise estate.

Cheers
Mark

A Bit Rusty

Painted up this 28mm corrugated iron shed from eBay today.  A good, sturdy resin model, separate roof, detailed inside as well, I think it may be from Ainsty Castings. Still have the woodwork to do of course, but I'm pleased with the effect so far. Will be useful in a host of locales from the 1850's onwards.

Kitted out for the Sudan, Freddy

defends the Regimental Gin Store

If you are interested in how it was done.....sprayed with a grey undercoat. Each side of the shed was given a heavily diluted wash of Citadel Waagh Flesh over the whole surface, whilst keeping the corrugated channels horizontal until the paint had dried to prevent the wash from simply pooling at the base.

Allowing the grey to show through gave the corrugated iron the aged and weather effect you see. In this instance, I decided less is more. Hope you agree. To add the rust, I simply took one of those sponges you get in a blister pack and dipped the edge into a terracotta hobby acrylic called Mars Orange. Then used a dabbing motion, building up the rust until I was satisfied. A couple of minutes and job done.

Cheers
Mark

Adding to our Housing Portfolio

 Winter of '79 is regrouping in the hills, readying ouselves for the next push into the urban centres.

 Inner City Decay

An entire Saturday, printing, cutting and gluing resulted in 15 of Tony's Urban Decay card building range put together. Managed to mess up one through rushing and left four more for 'super' detailing at a later date.

Suburban Des Res

My 70's housing estate continues to grow. Been picking up these kits on eBay when they've been relatively inexpensive. Bachmann brought out a similar ready built OO scale 70's detached last year which is very nice but at £25 a pop I've understandably held back and taken the eBay option for these OOP Hornby kits.

These houses are representative of the housing boom in the late 70's and eighties. They filled suburban estates on the edge of cities. In some more industrialised towns they would be close together, probably with a small patch of grass and tarmac driveway out front without any boundary walls or hedges. Elsewhere they could be set apart in closes where children could play safely. Each with long front gardens, walls hedges and trees.

As time wore on the kitchen would gain a flat roof extension, the garage converted into a bedroom and a sun lounge added. Additional bedrooms would spring up in the eaves, often with ugly dormer windows.

These estates might grow around existing Victorian housing for professionals or on the edge of Trading Estates. At their centre might be a purpose built shopping arcade, often attached to a public library. Sometimes in the larger developments an enterprising home owner might convert their corner house into a newsagents or convenience store.


Cheers
Mark

Of Gods and Mortals: Our Take

We needed a bit of cheering up before Christmas, so Maff bought us both a copy of Osprey Publishings new Of Gods and Mortals mythological wargame rules.

Of Gods and Mortals is laid out very closely to In Her Majesty's Name and I'm guessing this is going to be a familiar format and not a bad thing at that. Of Gods and Mortals is 'Fantasy Lite' with plenty of club gaming potential, allowing a quick transition from historical with minimal outlay.

Of course, we can't just leave Of Gods and Mortals as it is.... I suggested to Maff we use it for Hyborian Gods but he shot back a cracking idea, which was to use it within my very own Dark Ages Valley of the Fire Dragon setting.

Valley of the Fire Dragon is open-ended so we can include the VoFD Gods and supernatural elements if we wish at any time, but what we want to do with OGAM is have more of a 13th Warrior quasi historical approach based on primal fears and superstition.

How does that work? The OGAM rules basically remain the same. The main change being that Gods are replaced by Superstition, Legends by Champions, whilst Mortals more or less stay as is.  

Superstition can be embodied by a simple totem, a Druid, a Witch Queen, even standing stones or a grove of trees. Of course you lose some of the powers that the Gods can wield that are equivalent to an 88 or Stuka raid but you have a more subtle game in tune with the men who read the Sagas rather than the characters in them.

During the break between Christmas and New Year, I started sorting through my Dark Ages figures, Norse fighters and fantasy barbarians for suitable OGAM/VoFD goons (see above).  It was really great looking at them again in a different light. A real benefit of OGAM is that the number of figures required for a faction is 20 or less and VoFD means you can use your Saga or Brytenwalda collection practically as is. Maybe a Druid, Shaman or similar and you are off and running. Plus I have a good excuse to add my favourite Hasslefree Barbarians, Fighters and Shamans.
 
Cheers
Mark